Global Shapers Iloilo hosts the first Iloilo Startup Roundtable

Last February 21, 2018, the Global Shapers Iloilo hosted the first Iloilo Tech Startup Roundtable as a response to the call of the Iloilo Federation for IT to organize the startup community.

The Roundtable was participated in by a mix of startup founders, investors, corporate professionals, academics, and was held at the second floor of Afrique's Restaurant, Smallville, Iloilo City.

The main discussion was to define what a "technology startup" is, and what is needed if a formal community or association for Iloilo startups were to be established.

The following was the result of the discussion:

On defining a Tech Startup

A Tech Startup is an entrepreneurial venture with the following key criteria:

a. It has a scalable and viable business model (or is in search of one)

b. It aims to solve a pain point or a problem at scale (not just confined to local problems)

c. It is tech-enabled and innovative (where "tech" does not necessarily mean ICT or software technology only)

The value of a Tech Startup Community

Furthermore, the discussion highlighted that for this group or community to be a real value-adding entity for startups it has to deliver the following that startups badly needed:

a. Startup-specific mentoring (especially for specific business issues like how to value your company, product-market fit, etc)

b. Networking with other startups, mentors, investors, etc.

c. Mindset-changing (a huge barrier of the Iloilo startup scene is the local mindset. How can we make Ilonggos take risks, think innovatively and beyond the local scene?)

Overall, it was a fruitful discussion. We hope that these insights can help further the development of the Iloilo Startup scene.